This invention relates generally to devices for forming fishing lures and particularly, to a new and improved apparatus for wrapping or tying flies.
Fishing flies are commonly used by fisherman to lure and tease fish into biting and attempting to swallow the presented bait so that the fish may be hooked and caught. Typically, a fly includes a hook having feathers or hair attached thereto in such manner as to simulate an organism, such as a minnow, a caddis fly larva, or a May fly, normally consumed by the pursued fish, and are laboriously produced by careful hand tying. Fishing enthusiasts often prefer to tie their own flies, both of necessity and as a hobby, to closely simulate natural bait, save expenses over purchased flies, and match their array of lures to particular food organisms occuring in a target locality.
Heretofore, such flies have commonly been tied by the individual fisherman entirely by hand, using an elongated vise or clamp to hold the hook and orient its shank toward the tyer so that work may be performed thereon. In forming the fly, the tyer arranges hair or feathers around the shank as desired to conceal the point of the hook and manually wraps thread around the shank to secure the hair or feathers thereto. To complete the fly, a droplet of wax or similar preservative is applied to the wrapped portion to inhibit unwrapping or premature rotting. It will be appreciated that considerable skill is required when hand-tying a fly to form a smooth, even-tensioned, wrapped body without untidy bunching or overlying of the threads in the wrapping coil.
In view of the above, the principle objects of the present invention are: to provide a compact fly tying apparatus having means securely and evenly wrapping a thread around a hook shank; to provide such an apparatus having a vise or clamp for retaining a hook in proper position for tying operations; to provide such an apparatus having a thread dispenser means for paying out thread to the wrapping site; to provide such an apparatus having an elongate support connecting the clamping means and the thread dispenser structure together in properly spaced relation; to provide such an apparatus having a mount for detachably connecting the apparatus to a working area surface such as a table top or the like; to provide such an apparatus which quickly and evenly ties fishing flies; and to provide such an apparatus which is relatively inexpensive, sturdy and efficient in use and well adapted for the intended purpose.